"The Long-Awaited Food Lion Ruling" - David B. Smallman - IRE Journal

Byline: David B. Smallman; 1999-10-01; IRE Journal;

". . .After millions of dollars in legal fees, the saga has concluded (pending further appeal) with reversal of Food Lion's fraud claim and the tossing out of its punitive damage award against ABC. The appeals court - apparently adopting a phrase from the amicus brief filed by IRE to support the Constitutional rights of investigative reporters - held that Food Lion could not enagage in an "end-run" around the first amendment by seeking to recover defamation-type damages without first proving that the story was intentionally or recklessly untruthful or inaccurate. . ."

Description:After a seven-year legal battle, the court finally came to a ruling.